Summary The renin-angiotensin system (RAS), in addition to its endocrine functions, plays a role within individual tissues such as the brain. The brain RAS is thought to control blood pressure through effects on fluid intake, vasopressin release and sympathetic nerve activity (SNA), and may regulate metabolism through mechanisms which remain undefined. We used a double-transgenic mouse model that exhibits brain-specific RAS activity to examine mechanisms contributing to fluid and energy homeostasis. The mice exhibit high fluid turnover through increased adrenal steroids, which is corrected by adrenalectomy and attenuated by mineralocorticoid receptor blockade. They are also hyperphagic but lean because of a marked increase in body temperature and metabolic rate, mediated by increased SNA and suppression of the circulating RAS. β-adrenergic blockade or restoration of circulating angiotensin-II, but not adrenalectomy, normalized metabolic rate. Our data point to contrasting mechanisms by which the brain RAS regulates fluid intake and energy expenditure.

Abstract-We have previously shown that mice transgenic for both the human renin and human angiotensinogen genes (RAϩ) exhibit appropriate tissue-and cell-specific expression of both transgenes, have 4-fold higher plasma angiotensin II (AII) levels, and are chronically hypertensive. However, the relative contribution of circulating and tissue-derived AII in causing hypertension in these animals is not known. We hypothesized that the brain renin-angiotensin system contributes to the elevated blood pressure in this model. To address this hypothesis, mean arterial pressure (MAP) and heart rate were measured in conscious, unrestrained mice after they were instrumented with intracerebroventricular cannulae and carotid arterial and jugular vein catheters. Intracerebroventricular administration of the selective AII type 1 (AT-1) receptor antagonist losartan (10 g, 1 L) caused a significantly greater peak fall in MAP in RAϩ mice than in nontransgenic RAϪ controls (Ϫ29Ϯ4 versus Ϫ4Ϯ2 mm Hg, PϽ0.01). To explore the mechanism of a central renin-angiotensin system-dependent hypertension in RAϩ mice, we determined the relative depressor responses to intravenous administration of the ganglionic blocking agent hexamethonium (5 mg/kg) or an arginine vasopressin (AVP) V 1 receptor antagonist (AVPX, 10 g/kg). Hexamethonium caused equal lowering of MAP in RAϩ mice and controls (Ϫ46Ϯ3 versus Ϫ52Ϯ3, PϾ0.05), whereas AVPX caused a significantly greater fall in MAP in RAϩ compared with RAϪ mice (Ϫ24Ϯ2 versus Ϫ6Ϯ1, PϽ0.01). Consistent with this was the observation that circulating AVP was 3-fold higher in RAϩ mice than in control mice. These results suggest that increased activation of central AT-1 receptors, perhaps those located at sites involved in AVP release from the posterior pituitary gland, plays a role in the hypertension in RAϩ mice. Furthermore, our finding that both human transgenes are expressed in brain regions of RAϩ mice known to be involved in cardiovascular regulation raises the possibility that augmented local production of AII and increased activation of AT-1 receptors at these sites is involved. (Circ Res. 1998;83:1047-1058.)Key Words: transgenic mice Ⅲ angiotensin Ⅲ blood pressure Ⅲ genetics Ⅲ pharmacology I t is well established that blood-borne angiotensin II (AII), the effector peptide of the renin-angiotensin system (RAS), plays a major role in the regulation of arterial blood pressure (BP) and volume homeostasis through its interaction with specific AII receptors present in vascular smooth muscle, kidney, and adrenal gland. Stimulation of these peripheral AII receptors leads to elevations in BP through increased vascular resistance, cardiac output, sodium reabsorption, and blood volume.1 However, in addition to these well-known actions at peripheral sites, AII also contributes to BP and volume regulation through its receptor-mediated effects on neurons located within the central nervous system (CNS). Indeed, central administration of AII causes increases in BP, antidiuresis, drinking, and salt appetite.2 This, ...

Abstract-Blocking brain mineralocorticoid receptors (MRs) reduces the high circulating levels of tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-␣ in heart failure (HF) rats. TNF-␣ and other proinflammatory cytokines activate neurons in the paraventricular nucleus (PVN) of hypothalamus, including corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) neurons, by inducing cyclooxygenase (COX)-2 activity and synthesis of prostaglandin E 2 by perivascular cells of the cerebral vasculature. We tested the hypothesis that systemic treatment with a MR antagonist would reduce hypothalamic COX-2 expression and PVN neuronal activation in HF rats. Rats underwent coronary ligation to induce HF, confirmed by echocardiography, or sham surgery, followed by 6 weeks treatment with eplerenone (30 mg/kg per day, orally) or vehicle (drinking water). Eplerenone-treated HF rats had lower plasma TNF-␣, interleukin (IL)-1␤ and IL-6, less COX-2 staining of small blood vessels penetrating PVN, fewer PVN neurons expressing Fra-like activity (indicating chronic neuronal activation), and fewer PVN neurons staining for TNF-␣, IL-1␤, and CRH than vehicle-treated HF rats. COX-2 and CRH protein expression in hypothalamus were 1.7-and 1.9-fold higher, respectively, in HFϩvehicle versus shamϩvehicle rats; these increases were attenuated (26% and 25%, respectively) in HFϩeplerenone rats. Eplerenone-treated HF rats had less prostaglandin E 2 in cerebrospinal fluid, lower plasma norepinephrine levels, lower left ventricular end-diastolic pressure, and lower right ventricle/body weight and lung/body weight ratios, but no improvement in left ventricular function.

The mineralocorticoid (MC) receptor antagonist spironolactone (SL) improves morbidity and mortality in patients with congestive heart failure (CHF). We tested the hypothesis that the central nervous system actions of SL contribute to its beneficial effects. SL (100 ng/h for 28 days) or ethanol vehicle (VEH) was administered intracerebroventricularly or intraperitoneally to rats with CHF induced by coronary artery ligation (CL) and to SHAM-operated controls. The intracerebroventricular SL treatment prevented the increase in sodium appetite and the decreases in sodium and water excretion observed within a week of CL in VEH-treated CHF rats. Intraperitoneal SL also improved volume regulation in the CHF rats, but only after 3 wk of treatment. Four weeks of SL treatment, either intracerebroventricularly or intraperitoneally, ameliorated both the increase in sympathetic drive and the impaired baroreflex function observed in VEH-treated CHF rats. These findings suggest that activation of MC receptors in the central nervous system plays a critical role in the altered volume regulation and augmented sympathetic drive that characterize clinical heart failure.

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Many studies have implicated both angiotensin II (ANG II) and aldosterone (Aldo) in the pathogenesis of hypertension, the progression of renal injury, and cardiac remodeling after myocardial infarction. In several cases, ANG II and Aldo have been shown to have synergistic interactions in the periphery. In the present studies, we tested the hypothesis that ANG II and Aldo interact centrally in Aldo- and ANG II-induced hypertension in male rats. In rats with blood pressure (BP) and heart rate (HR) measured by DSI telemetry, intracerebroventricular (icv) infusions of the mineralocorticoid receptor (MR) antagonists spironolactone and RU28318 or the angiotensin type 1 receptor (AT1R) antagonist irbesartan significantly inhibited Aldo-induced hypertension. In ANG II-induced hypertension, icv infusion of RU28318 significantly reduced the increase in BP. Moreover, icv infusions of the reactive oxygen species (ROS) scavenger tempol or the NADPH oxidase inhibitor apocynin attenuated Aldo-induced hypertension. To confirm these effects of pharmacological antagonists, icv injections of either recombinant adeno-associated virus carrying siRNA silencers of AT1aR (AT1aR-siRNA) or MR (MR-siRNA) significantly attenuated the development of Aldo-induced hypertension. The immunohistochemical and Western blot analyses of AT1aR-siRNA- or MR-siRNA-injected rats showed a marked reduction in the expression of AT1R or MR in the paraventricular nucleus compared with scrambled siRNA rats. When animals from all studies underwent ganglionic blockade with hexamethonium, there was a smaller reduction in the fall of BP in animals receiving icv AT1R or MR antagonists. These results suggest that ANG II and Aldo interact in the brain in a mutually cooperative manner such that the functional integrity of both brain AT1R and MR are necessary for hypertension to be induced by either systemic ANG II or Aldo. The pressor effects produced by systemic ANG II or Aldo involve increased central ROS and sympathetic outflow.